Wardicus Wednesdays #4 - Wicker Park Fest.

First, I don't care that it's not Wednesday. I like alliteration. I just finished my summer class, so give me a break if I'm a little behind this week. On to the post.

There are three major reasons why Wicker Park Fest is better than Pitchfork.
1) The price - I paid $30 to go to one day of Pitchfork. Wicker Park Fest was only $5 and that was a donation. I only paid it because I'm a good person.
2) The location - Wicker Park Fest is only 3 L stops from my apartment, while Pitchfork is 45 minutes on a crowded train. Also, it's smaller so you don't have all those out-of-towners coming to flood the streets with their dunks and deep-v's.
3) Post-rock - Wicker Park Fest loves less accessible music like math rock, post-rock, post-math-rock, neo-post-rock, and also Prefuse 73. While Pitchfork had the heavy hitters, Wicker Park Fest had the goodies. For example:




Nomo blends funk, afro-beat, and free jazz wonderfully. Influenced by the likes of Sun Ra and even played a cover of "Rocket Number Nine" during their set. The band has not one, not two, but three drummers. And a tenor sax player who resembled Bruce Willis. What more could you want?





Daedalus is an eccentric dj who performs his sets dressed in Edwardian attire (notice the mutton chops). He's shy and frequently shows humility when the audience cheers his mixing of 40's & 50's samples with homemade beats and pop lyrics. He's an extensive record collector, a Ninja Tunes spinster, and all-around boogie maestro.





The homegrown Chicago band Joan of Arc was formed by Tim Kinsella in the wake of the break of of Cap'n Jazz. Using subtle electronics and sampling techniques, the band is often described as "difficult." I don't get it. It's pop music.




Here we have another Chicago band, Maps & Atlases. They do math rock. I wish I had gotten video of the performance instead of just this picture because it's funny to watch hipsters try and shuffle in 7/8.





Finally for some post-rock. Red Sparowes (sic) consists of members of a number of other musical projects, most notably Isis. They are set apart from the rest of the post-rock clan by their extremely long song titles. I mean, this song's full title is "The Great Leap Forward Poured Down Upon Us One Day Like A Mighty Storm Suddenly And Furiously Blinding Our Senses." Damn. These guys were loud and dirty. My ears are still ringing.